Retaining and reinforcing device for plaster-board and stucco construction.



E. J. HEDDEN.

RETAINING AND REINFORCING DEVICE FOR PLASTER BOARD AND STUOOO CONSTRUCTION.

' APPLICATION FILED MAR.22, I915.

1,169,611 I Patented Jan. 25, 1916.

THE coLumBIA FLANOGRAPH cm, WASHINGTON, D. c.

extension of the nail.

nnrrn s'rarns PA rnnr ELMENDORF J. HEDDEN, OF BALA, PENNSYLVANIA.

RETAINING AND REINFO RGING DEVICE FOR PLASTER-BOARD AND STUCGO CONSTRUCTION.

rieaeei.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 25, 15916..

pnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bala, county of Montgomery, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Retaining and Reinforcing Devices for PlasterBoard and Stucco Construction, of whichthe following 18 a full, clear,'and exact description, referonce being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to the art of securing iflasterboards or composition boards to studding and of applying plaster or stucco to such boards, and is more especially applicable to the construction ofthe outside walls of buildings, although applicable also to inside partition work.

In this construction the plaster boards are nailed in place upon the studding and then a coat of stucco is applied thereto. Defective work often arises from several causes. Thus, the material of which the plaster boards is formed is not such as to tightly grip the shank of the nail, as in wood-work, and thus the board tends to work loose and work out in the direction of This defect is in a large measure overcome by the provision of specially constructed nails having large heads formed of convoluted wire integral with the nail; but such nails are expensive to manufacture and the head is easily broken from the shank, and moreover they cannot be driven into place as readily as the ordinary nail. Again, due to the failure of the workmen to properly wet the face of the boards, the plaster or stucco often fails to properly adhere thereto. Again, there is nothing except the closest supervision, which 1 is usually impracticable, to prevent the workmen from applying too thin a coat of stucco or from applying a coat of irregular thickness.

It is the object of my invention to overcome all these sources of defective, dishonest or slip-shod Work, to which end I have provided a wire retaining and reinforcing device designed to be used in connection with an ordinary lath nail, and constructed, preferably, as shown in the drawings in which Figure l is a perspective view of the retaining or reinforcing device. Fig. 2 is a plan view of same in use. Fig. 3 is a section through a wall showing the device in elevation.

The drawings show the application of the invention to a typical plaster board and stucco construction, the frame-work or studding being shown at a, the boards at b and the coat of stucco at 0. For the purpose of securing the boards to the studding, 1 cmploy an ordinary lath nail (Z. Before driving a nail, there is slipped on the shank thereof a wire retainer and reinforcer comprising a single length of wire. The central portion of the wire is bent into a loop a, the central portion of the loop being somewhat widened to aflord a passage for the shank of the nail. Beyond the loop, on each side thereof, the wire is bent upon itself to form another and open-ended loop f, of about half the length of the first loop, and is thence bent outward, thence at an angle to the plane of loops 6 and f, and thence outward and back upon itself to form an offset end loop 9, which extends in a plane parallel to, but different from, the plane in which loops 6 and f extend.

This retainer and reinforcer has several important advantages. It permits the use of an ordinary nail. manufacture. It prevents the board from working away from the studding. Inas much as most of the usual orifices for the receipt of nails are located along the margin of the board, each device applied near the margin of the board overlaps an adjacent board and thereby afiords additional means for securing the latter board in place, be-

sides maintaining flush the faces of adjacent boards. It afiords reinforcement for the stucco, so that the latter will be maintained in place notwithstanding the carelessness or ignorance of the workman. The outer loops spaced as they are from the face of the boards, absolutely requires the application of a coat of stucco or plaster of euthcient thickness to entirely cover and conceal the loops, thereby insuring, without special supervision, the application of a coat of the thickness required by the specifications.

It is obvious that the precise contour of the reinforcing and retaining device, although it possesses advantages, need not be strictly adhered to, so long as the essential features thereof are retained.

Having now fully described my invention,

It is inexpensive to What I claim and desire to protect by LettersPatentis e 1. A retaining and reinforcing device for plastic board construction comprising a length of wire having end portions in the sameplane and spaced apart and a connecting portion between the end portions and located in a different plane therefrom, the central part of said connecting portion being shaped to form a loop located substantially midway between the end portions and which is adapted to receive the shank of acnail and to be confinedbythe nail head against the face of the board. a 2. A retaining and reinforcing device for plaster board construction comprising a length of wire having end loops in the same plane and spaced apart, and a connecting portion between the end loops, said connecting portion being shaped to form a central loop located midway between the endloops in a plane different from that in which the end loops .extend and which is adapted to receive the shank of a nail and to be confined by the nail head against the face of the board. Y

3. A retaining and reinforcing device for plaster board construction comprising a length of wire the central portion of which is formed into [an elongated loop whose mouth is substantially closed and which between its opposite ends is somewhat spread apart to receive the nail shank, the wire from both sides of the mouth of the/loop extending outward and thence formed with offset portions laterally distant from the central loop and extending in a plane different from, and parallel to, that in which "the central loop extends.

4:. A retaining and reinforcing device for plaster board construction comprising a length of wire the central portion of which is formed into an elongated loop to receive the shank of a nail, the wire beyond each end of said loop being bent upon itself to form another and shorter loop and thence bent outward and back upon itself to form an end loop, the central loop and end loops being in different planes.

5. A retaining and reinforcing device for plaster board construction comprising a length of wire the central portion of which is formed into a loop to receive the shank of a nail, the wire beyond each end of said central loop being bent outward, thence augularly, and thence outward and back upon itself to form an end loop, the central loop and end loops being in different planes.

6. A retaining and reinforcing device for plaster board construction comprising a length of wire the central portion of which is formed into an elongated loop which between its ends is spaced apart to afford a guide for the shank of a nail, the wire beyond each end of said central loop being bent upon itself to form a shorter intermediate loop, and thence bent successively outward, angularly, and outward and backward, the last named outward and backward bend forming an end loop and extending in a plane different from, but parallel to, the

.plane in which the cent 'al loop extends.

7. A retaining and reinforcing device for plaster board construction comprising a length of wire comprising a central loop adapted to receive the shank of a nail and to be confined by the nail against the face of the board, connecting loops located on opposite sides of, adjacent to, and in substantially the same plane as, the central loop, and other loops beyond the last named loops and extending in a plane different from that in which the central loop extends.

In testimony of which invention, I have :hereunto set my hand, at Philadelphia, on

this 18th day of March, 1915.

ELMENDORF J. HEDDEN.

Witness T. Nnvnv Carson.

Copies of this patent may be obtained. for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' i Washington, D. G. 

